The Petition to Leave to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person – The Latest Weapon for Domestic Abusers

The Petition to Leave to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person – The Latest Weapon for Domestic Abusers

Posted By Margo R, Community Contributor

Legal System Abuse is the newest form of domestic violence. Abusers easily lie about their financial status on The Petition to Leave to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person which is the free pass to use government resources to intimidate their victims.

Legal System Abuse is the newest form of domestic violence. Abusers easily lie about their financial status on The Petition to Leave to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person which is the free pass to use government resources to intimidate their victims. (Posted By Margo R, Community Contributor)

Margo R, Community Contributor

It began with what seemed like an innocent request. “I’m between living situations right now. Will you keep this valuable object of mine in your space – just for awhile?” What harm could it do? He was so charming, intelligent, spiritual, and came so well recommended. A few hard luck stories later and he had moved in. Over time, the fog cleared and I saw this guy for what he was: a manipulative, disruptive, freeloading con man. I kicked him out at the end of September 2012. He threatened revenge. Not by physical means, but by means of the Legal System.

Family members who still talk to him call him “Stubway,” which is short for “Stubborn” and “I want my own Way.” He began working his plan – harassing me with 12 or more phone calls a day, emails and text messages at all hours of the night demanding his right to live rent free at my place. He even came to my job to intimidate me, convincing the security guard he was a delivery man. I finally got an Order of Protection, which was the entrée he needed to enter the Legal System.

Why would a freeloader like Stubway pick the Legal System as his weapon of choice – with attorneys fees averaging $265/hour in Chicago, plus court costs, appearance fees, filing fees– it adds up to thousands. (The average domestic case in Chicago costs $30,000!)

First, legal proceedings are the one exception to Orders of Protection “No Contact” rulings. Second, he found a way to get it for free: lie about his assets. The Petition to Leave to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person allows people of limited income access to the Legal System by waiving almost every legal fee imaginable and giving them first dibs to pro bono legal services, all courtesy of the taxpayers of Illinois. At the end of the form, the applicant signs an affidavit that he/she understands that “Making false statements on the application for Leave to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person is a Class 3 Felony, punishable by 2-5 years in prison and fines up to $25,000.” I would take that very seriously, wouldn't you?

The court granted Stubway his Petition, which translated to about every three weeks since I kicked him out, my having to show up in court somewhere. The possibilities were endless- to voraciously consume my time, energy, and financial resources with endless legal proceedings at multiple venues! I watched as his pro bono lawyers drew up agreements with my lawyer only to watch him renege on those agreements. Then he fired his free lawyers, played lawyer himself, got new lawyers, fired them; he refused mediation, and began to ask for continuance after continuance for the most absurd reasons which the judges would allow.

I began to notice his arguing and maneuvering was NEVER about the legal issue, it was about how to prolong the case. He just wanted to see me again, even if the sight of him made my blood boil. The word “continuance” took on new meaning for me –the continuation of the emotional and mental distress, but now with an audience, often with standing room only! And a judge in a robe! And intelligent lawyers who fussed all over him! There was all sorts of excitement!

So far, I have won three of these cases on the legal merit but who knows how many more he shall initiate or appeal. He has won none, but that is not his goal. His goal is to drag me in there every three weeks, and get away with something – to stand within three feet of me, when to do so is forbidden in the Order of Protection I carry in my purse with me at all times, while police pace the hallways outside, while I stand on the verge of vomiting. I wish someone other than me would see that what is really transpiring is not about getting to bottom of any legal issue. It’s about being used in an abuser’s abysmal psychodrama.

The sheer volume of hours these proceedings demanded during daytime hours has impacted my concentration at work and my mental, emotional, and physical health. I can’t count the hours it’s stolen from my family or my creative endeavors to study legal minutiae, I am not financially prepared for any of this nonsense, and courtrooms are not my element. What frightens me most is the thought that I will have to spend eternity in some courtroom with that fool. Thank God for my faith and for those in my life who truly love and support me.

A recent visit with the State’s Attorney’s Office let me know that Stubway is the poster child for newest form of violence against women: Legal System abuse. “We are seeing it more and more,” the advocates told me, “and slime finds its way through the loopholes and cracks.” One advocate said there is nothing the State’s Attorney can do because the abusers are not committing any criminal acts.

“Committing a Class 3 felony by lying on the application doesn’t count as a criminal act?” I guess not! Stubway swore on the form he had absolutely zero assets. Yet he owns a car worth $10,000, has several thousand dollars stashed in over a half dozen investment accounts, and was recently awarded a settlement of $200,000 in a personal injury lawsuit. Stubway claims he is homeless but gave the address of the luxury north shore condo his relatives provided him on his application. “You have detectives and all kinds of surveillance. Can’t you just check it out? How about income verification?”

“There are so many of these applications. People just come in and fill out zeros in all the fields. Sure they lie. It’s the judges that determine if the Petitions are allowed or not.”

“Can’t you take this privilege to Sue or Defend as an Indigent Person away from him? It’s not a weapon!” I asked the advocate. She shrugged her shoulders. “If no one is monitoring the answers on this form, and it’s giving abusers like Stubway all this freedom to perpetrate more violence, why doesn't it just say at the bottom: "GO AHEAD AND LIE BECAUSE NO ONE IS GOING TO CHECK. P.S. HAPPY HUNTING.”

Love gone bad may not be such a matter to write the editor about, except that it’s just not me vs. him. It’s me vs. the taxpayers of Illinois and in that regard, I’m clearly outnumbered, outgunned and out-funded. But here’s a thought: if Stubway and slimeballs like him think the taxpayers should tolerate their continued exploitation of these free programs to fund their pathological abuse of women, or that the legal system should turn a blind eye to their perjury, I say we bring it out into the court of public opinion and see what the rest of the world thinks about that.